


temper the flame, but refuse to let it die

by Phoenix_Allura (Artemis_Autumn_Marie)



Series: Nix's Thominho Week 2018 [5]
Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types, The Maze Runner Series - James Dashner
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Thominho Week, Thominho Week 2018, With bits of angst sprinkled in
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 17:17:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,039
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15344676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemis_Autumn_Marie/pseuds/Phoenix_Allura
Summary: Day Five of Thominho Week, Soulmate AU. Minho and his soulmate live far apart, and Minho always has drawings all over his arms, though he never draws anything on them.





	temper the flame, but refuse to let it die

When Minho was two, his dad had lifted him out of the bath and thrown him into the air. When he saw that his little boy's feet were black with ink, he checked his hands and called his wife. The pictures were still up on the wall as Minho passed, fifteen years later. He still hadn't met his soulmate, let alone knew their name. They liked to draw all over their arms, though, cute spirals and flowers, blocky square mazes and strange creatures that Minho couldn't name. Minho hardly ever drew on himself- he didn't like the feeling of pens or markers on his skin. His parents had tried, for years, to get to write a message to his soulmate, telling them this, but he'd never done it. He had written back, once, when he was eight and his soulmate six. They had written that they were being teased and bullied at school because they only had their own markings on their skin, not anyone else's. Minho had written back in an attempt to comfort them and hopefully stop whatever was going on.  
"First day of your senior year, Minho! Are you excited?" His dad said.  
"Excited to see my friends, yes. Excited to graduate, yes. Excited to go to class, no."  
"You might meet your soulmate, Minho. You have a few new students joining your school." Yeah, the genius twins everyone was obsessed with. But Minho knew his soulmate lived far away and went to public school and studied a lot.  
"The odds of one of them being my soulmate are, like, nothing." Minho rolled his eyes. "But I guess I'll keep an eye out." Keep an eye out for arms as decorated as his. Even the kids in the Soulmate Club didn't look like he did, and that was saying something, as most of them wrote back and forth. It wouldn't be hard to spot at his school. On a whim, Minho grabbed one of the ever-present Sharpie containers on the counter. Maybe he'd write a note to his soulmate today. It was the first day of school, after all.  
Minho hated icebreakers. He didn't want to 'meet' any of his classmates, he knew them all. Well, except for the genius twins, but they were at the college down the road for their morning classes, as the rumors went.  
"So, Minho, did you meet your soulmate?" His mother asked at dinner.  
"No. You know how Glade Academy works. I would have noticed someone with arms like mine. Everyone would have."  
"You should write them a message, dear. Ask if they have started school yet. Ask after their family." She urged, and Minho nodded. Next year, he would be eighteen, old enough to start courting his soulmate from afar- as they clearly didn't live near each other.  
"I will, after dinner. I don't want to ruin all these drawings, though." There were more than usual, maybe because school was starting. Minho went to his room and grabbed the Sharpies out of his backpack. He stared at his arm for a minute before writing 'Hi. I'm Minho.' A few minutes later, he got a response.  
'Hi Minho, I'm Thomas. Have you started school yet?'  
'Yeah, started my senior year today. You?'  
'I started my college courses today, along with my sophomore year.' Thomas better not be who Minho thought he was.  
'Where do you go to school?'  
'I'm attending Glade Academy. I just moved here. It's lonely without my younger brother, but I still have Teresa, no matter how annoying she is.'  
'I'm at Glade Academy too. I've been going there since I was seven and I'll be taking my college courses not far from campus. Is that where you're doing yours?'  
'Yeah. Do you think we'll run into each other? Glade Academy is a lot smaller than my old school, and we had soulmate matchups all the time.'  
'We probably will. How old are you? I'm turning eighteen this year; I planned on courting you with gifts from afar, but it turns out that won't be happening.' Minho actually had a bank account dedicated solely to soulmate gifts.  
'I'll never say no to gifts. I'll be sixteen in four months. I'm glad we don't have a huge age gap. My parents aren't soulmates, but my dad's soulmate is eighty-five, and my mom's is twenty-six.' Neither of them said anything after that. Minho didn't ask what classes he was in. If he had, it would mean a promise to look for him, and he didn't want to do that. There was more than one Glade Academy. There were several just in the U.S. Thomas might not go to his school, and so looking for each other likely wouldn't even work.  
'Minho?' The question was on his arm the next morning. 'Are you happy you have a soulmate? My twin, my sister, she doesn't have one, and she says she's glad she doesn't.'  
'I've always been happy to have a soulmate.' Thomas was insecure, it seemed. Maybe Minho would have to meet him.  
'Hey, I gotta ask- are you one of the genius twins I've been hearing about?'  
'Yeah, I'm the younger of the two. I'm going to have my arms bare today. If you see me-' Minho cut him off.  
'If I see you, I will either come to you quietly or embrace you publicly and let everyone know we've found each other. I'll leave my arms bare, too.'  
'Please don't be loud about it. I don't like too much attention on me.'  
'I'll be quiet then. I can't guarantee that people won't talk.'  
'Thank you. Teresa's calling, I'll talk to you later.' Thomas drew one of what seemed to be his trademark square mazes. Minho checked his bag; the Sharpies from yesterday were still there. Good. If he saw Thomas today, he'd write a message first, figure out where they could meet privately, maybe a friend each.  
"Hey, mom." Minho grabbed a muffin off the counter. "I'm going in early today. I've been talking with Thomas, and I'm hoping to meet him."  
"What did he say to get you to think that?"  
"He's really insecure about the whole thing. He is one of the genius twins, though. So we're trying to find each other and meet up quietly today."  
"Well, Minho, I hope you meet him. He seems like a very nice boy."  
"You've never even seen him, Mom."  
"He is your complement, the one who brings out your better side and tempers the flame of your passion without letting it die, Minho. Your father and I will like him no matter what. Now, get off to school."  
"Yes, Mom." Minho grabbed his keys and left the house. His dad's car was already gone; he must have been called in early.  
'Thomas? I'm at school.' Minho wrote before getting out of the car.  
'I'm in the library.' Thomas answered.  
'I'll meet you there.' Thomas wasn't hard to find; he and the librarians were the only other people in the library.  
'Turn around.' Minho wrote, moving forward. Thomas turned to face him. He was smaller than Minho by a long shot, but he was cute: Brown hair, pretty brown eyes. Those pretty eyes widened and Thomas just about ran to him, hugging him tightly. Minho put a hand on his head and ran his fingers through his hair.  
"Hey, Thomas. Rough first day?"  
"Yeah. I'm glad to finally meet you in person, Minho."  
"Me too, Thomas. Are you going to be an artist?"  
"No-oo. I like drawing, and I'm good at it, but I can get better jobs in science. I- I-" Minho cut him off gently.  
"Thomas, you do what you want to do. We have an art club here that you can join. I'll go with you if you want." Thomas had a good thing going- he could draw very well, but he seemed convinced that his only option was a science-related job. "Have you seen much of the school?" Thomas shook his head. "Well, I'll give you a tour."

Thomas thought he might be in shock. His soulmate was, as Teresa would say, hot. He didn't know how he deserved this guy. Not only that, but he didn't seem to expect anything of Thomas, despite the rumors he knew were flying around.  
"Thomas? Thomas?" Minho seemed concerned now, but Thomas was hardly paying attention.

"Thomas?" Minho repeated his name a third time and shook him lightly. "Thomas, honey, come on. Talk to me." Thomas wasn't responding, his pupils huge and pulse rapid-firing against Minho's hands on his shoulders. "Are you going into shock, Thomas? Is that what this is?" Thomas didn't answer, and Minho didn't know what to do. He picked Thomas up and brought him to the front of the library.  
"He's not responding. I think he might have gone into shock." Minho told the librarian. "What should I do?"  
"I don't think I know, either." She admitted. "But I can look it up quickly and figure it out." She typed on her computer for a minute. "Okay, these answers are all for going into shock after having been injured, which I don't think Thomas has, but they might help anyway. It says to elevate the head a foot off the ground, keep them warm and comfortable, loosen restrictive clothing. " Minho grabbed a chair cushion and propped up Thomas's head, then removed his own coat and out it off him.  
"Do you think we should call an ambulance?"  
"Not yet, but I'll call the school nurse, see what he says." Minho nodded.

Thomas's head felt foggy, and he wasn't really registering anything that was happening. He was laying down, he thought. And there was something over him. He opened his eyes and blinked- he didn't remember closing them. Then voices filtered in. Minho and Ms. Jazlyn sounded worried, and there was another voice, more clinical. Had they called 911? Thomas tried sitting up, only to find a hand on his chest. He blinked up at the owner.  
"Hey, Thomas. Good to see you're more aware now." Minho said softly.  
"Thomas, I'm the school nurse, Robert." Thomas looked at him and nodded. "This isn't uncommon, Thomas, for one soul mate to get something resembling shock upon meeting. We've had quite a few cases of it over the years here. For you, I think it's a combination being in a new school, the pressure of your workload, and meeting your soulmate." Thomas nodded again. "I'm giving both of you a pass for the day. I'll email all your teachers and professors and let them know. Thomas, is anyone at your home?"  
"No, my sister's here, my brother's at his school, and my parents are at work." Chuck was miles away, with their aunt.  
"Minho?"  
"My mom has today off," Minho said, helping Thomas sit up.  
"That's perfect. You two should spend the day in each other's company, getting to know each other. If your mom's home, Minho, the two of you can go to your house for a quiet morning and lunch and then spend the afternoon exploring the town."  
"That's a great idea," Minho said. "We can leave whenever you're ready, Thomas, I have my car just outside." Robert nodded.  
"I'll see you two tomorrow, then." He left.

Minho was pleased when Thomas walked to his car with minimal help. That meant he was feeling better, right?  
"This morning, my mom said she liked you," Minho said.  
"She doesn't even know me!" Thomas protested.  
"I don't really know you yet either and I like you." Minho glanced over at Thomas; he was flushed. "You're good at drawing, smart, sweet. I don't see how anyone couldn't like you." Thomas shrugged.  
"Everyone always says I ask too many questions."  
"Asking questions is how you figure things out, it's not a bad thing. You can ask me all the questions you want." Minho promised. What had his parents been teaching him? They had two genius children, they had to figure they'd ask questions.  
"Okay. How many friends do you have? What're the teachers like?"  
"I have one best friend, his name's Newt, and I have a pretty big friend group. I think you'll like all of them, they're pretty cool even if they are assholes sometimes. The teachers are usually great, but watch out for Janson."  
"He's the rat-faced one, right? He's my English teacher. I don't think he likes me. I could teach his class if I had to, though." Minho laughed.  
"Yeah, that's him. We'll see if we can get you tested out of his class. Maybe you can join mine."  
"My parents want me with kids my own age. English is the only high school class I'm taking that's not AP."  
"Well, you're going to be crazy bored. Maybe I can at least talk to my teacher to see if you can do a couple of projects for her class. Like, while you're sitting in his class bored."  
"That sounds nice. It'll keep me busy. Yesterday he complained because I got this week's work done and was reading."  
"What type of books do you like?"  
"Fantasy, historical fiction, science fiction." Thomas listed a few.  
"I mostly watch my science fiction," Minho admitted, turning onto his street. "I do like historical fiction, though."  
"Have you seen Quantum Leap?" Thomas asked.  
"I don't think I have."  
"It's an older show, but it's great. A scientist gets stuck in the past, jumping to someone else's body every week. I watched it with my dad all the time as a kid."  
"Well, we'll have to watch it together sometime."

Thomas leaned on Minho, laughing, as they left the shop. Mrs. Park just smiled at them.  
"Thomas, your parents must be getting worried by now. Would you like us to take you home?" She asked.  
"If you want, ma'am. My curfew is midnight." Thomas told her, still laughing. He didn't even know why at this point, but it felt good. He hadn't actually laughed in a long time. Well, except with Chuck.  
"I would be a horrible soulmate if I didn't get you home at a decent hour, Thomas, you have school tomorrow," Minho said.  
"No, I have busy work tomorrow, save for my college class. You have school." Minho rolled his eyes.  
"Well, at least you can sleep through your classes and still pass."  
"I could tutor you if you want."  
"That'd be great. It'd give us an excuse to spend more time getting to know each other." Minho smiled at him.  
"Minho! He's sixteen!" Mrs. Park protested.  
"Tutoring sessions are in the school library, Mom." Minho blinked innocently at her. "Besides, I plan on following Thomas's lead on this one. Nothing he's not comfortable with." Minho turned to face Thomas. "I'll sign us up tomorrow when I get to school. You don't have to worry about it."  
Minho walked Thomas to the front door, and he knew Teresa was watching from her window. She always did.  
"Is it alright if I kiss you on the forehead, Thomas?" Minho asked.  
"Yes. Thank you for asking."  
"I'd never think not to," Minho told him, then pressed a light kiss to his forehead. "Shall I meet your parents tonight, then?"  
"Let's wait. My sister's home, and she'll ask enough awkward questions without my parents being involved."  
"Alright. I'll see you, Thomas. Write me if you need anything." Thomas nodded. Despite his sister's meddling and the move, he had a feeling this would be a good year.

Thomas grinned. Minho was graduating today, and he'd been accepted- full ride, for track and his grades- to the same college Thomas was attending.  
“Minho!” Thomas ran full-speed into him, laughing as Minho caught him and spun him around. “How does it feel to be out of high school?”  
“It feels great. Thomas, how would feel about moving in with me on campus? Most of your classes are there anyway, and you could take those art classes you were eyeing when you gave me the tour.”  
“I’d love to. But is it allowed?”  
“I checked. I have a singles’ dorm anyway, and soulmates are allowed to join current students. You're also a current student, so that works out well.”  
“That sounds great, Minho. But for now, we have food to eat and a summer to plan.”  
“I'm just saying, Thomas, we might not see each other much anyway. I've got a job now, I'll have track meets-” Thomas laughed gently.  
“I'll also have track meets, and all my classes, and maybe a job of my own. If we graduate at the same time, then I want to be able.to afford our own place right away. But we have years to worry about all that, let's just enjoy today.”  
“Okay, we will.”

Minho grinned at his soulmate, always so curious about everything but today willing to put his questions aside to celebrate. They'd come so far in their relationship since their first meeting and had grown so much. Minho could say, for the first time in years, that he was proud of how he was growing and the direction he was going in.  
“Thomas, slow down.” Minho laughed as Thomas pulled him through the crowd of people.  
“You're a track star, Minho, you should be able to keep up,” Thomas told him.  
“Not with this many people around, Thomas, running would be dangerous.”  
“And yet they're doing it.” Thomas gestured to the many young children running around, weaving around people and trying to steal their older siblings’ graduation caps.  
“They are much smaller than we are.”  
“Well, we have to get to your parents somehow.”  
“That somehow is walking, calmly.” Minho retorted, pulling Thomas back to him. “Besides, they're right there.” Minho led Thomas through the crowd to his parents.  
“He said yes, Mom,” Minho told them, grinning again.  
“Good. You two are great for each other.” His dad said. “Now let's go home and get some of the wonderful food your mother and Thomas spent all morning working on.” Minho laughed. Of course Thomas would come over to help, it was just like him.  
“I agree.” Minho said. And so they left the crowd of excited and maybe slightly drunk graduates to their fun.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this fic. I know I liked writing it. Kudos, comment, you know the drill.
> 
> See you tomorrow,  
> Phoenix


End file.
